


The Cobra Effect

by slrandomperson



Category: Cobra Kai (Web Series)
Genre: A re-imagining of the scene where Hawk breaks Demetri's arm, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Basically lots of arguments all in a row, Enemies to Lovers, Episode: s03e05 Miyagi-Do, Friends to Enemies, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-12 03:27:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28878720
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slrandomperson/pseuds/slrandomperson
Summary: Anger clouds Hawk's vision—the dark red memories of the way Demetri looked at him when he showed up to school with spiky blue hair; the haunting question, "Have any of you heard of sleep enuresis?"—and for a moment, he can almost taste the gratification he's going to get for breaking this kid's arm.But then: "Eli, stop, stop! I-It's me!"Time slows down.≖≖≖≖≖≖OR, Hawk makes a snap decision (no pun intended, especially since he doesn't go through with it).
Relationships: Demetri & Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Demetri/Eli "Hawk" Moskowitz, Samantha LaRusso & Demetri
Comments: 36
Kudos: 150





	The Cobra Effect

**Author's Note:**

> I hope we get an apology scene in season 4 because even though I love Hawk's character, he did a lot of messed up stuff. Both he and Demetri deserve way better than a rushed "I'm sorry," so I'm looking forward to seeing more of them soon.
> 
> Also, the amount of gayness in this ridiculous karate show goes completely unnoticed by its target demographic, so I'm just happy to have found this small community of people who make me feel like I'm not going crazy.
> 
> Tumblr: soe-leo. Open to requests!

Hawk _loves_ when Demetri calls him "Eli."

He would never, ever, ever tell Demetri that, of course, and he will probably never get the chance to. Not after everything he's done. Certainly not after what he's about to do.

"No, please stop!" Demetri cries, squirming on the ground where Hawk has him pinned. 

Anger clouds Hawk's vision—the dark red memories of the way Demetri looked at him when he showed up to school with spiky blue hair; the haunting question, _"Have any of you heard of sleep enuresis?"_ —and for a moment, he can almost taste the gratification he's going to get for breaking this kid's arm.

But then: "Eli, stop, stop! I-It's me!"

Time slows down.

The cheers of the Cobra Kai students, his _friends_ , fade into the background. Hawk feels the red slipping away—all of it: the mohawk, the tattoo, the rage boiling in the pit of his stomach until it all just evaporates—until he's just Eli again. Just for a second.

But a second is long enough for Demetri to plead, "Don't do it," and that gives Hawk something he hasn't had in a very long time: a good idea.

"Pussy," he snarls (for the effect) before leaning down so his mouth is right by Demetri's ear. "Do you remember that thing you used to do? Where you would crack your neck and it sounded like you shattered your whole spine?"

Demetri nods desperately, a puddle of tears forming where his cheek is smashed against the ground. Tory shouts something about finishing him. Hawk ignores her.

"When I pull your arm, you're gonna do that, okay? And then you're gonna scream as loud as you can."

Daring not to speak, Demetri just nods again. 

_On three_ , Hawk thinks as he shifts a bit to block the others' view. 

_One._

How is this even going to work? Are they going to see through the ruse? Is he going to be able to deal with the embarrassment of his friends knowing that he wimped out?

_Two._

This is such an insanely stupid risk to take, but he has to do it. He's lost the only friend he ever had once before, so losing all of them again won't be anything he can't handle. No matter how scary the thought of going back to being a loser is.

_Three._

It dawns on him that he would rather lose everyone than see this terrified look on Demetri's face ever again, so Hawk finally makes up his mind and gives his arm a convincing pull.

The sound of Demetri's neck cracking sends a chill up Hawk's spine, just like it always has, but his scream is the worst part. Hawk is infinitely grateful that Demetri knows how to pretend something hurts worse than it does—it's an effective method for tricking bullies into thinking you've reached your breaking point—but he never thought Demetri would have to use that against _him_.

Back before Hawk let all this nonsense about _"Cobra Kai for life"_ and _"no mercy"_ get into his head, when his hair was blue and he had a little shred of sense left, he didn't want Demetri to call him "Eli" because he thought that name represented everything he used to be. He thought it was everything he hated about himself. Everything that everyone saw him as.

But the truth is that, for pretty much their entire lives, Demetri was the only person who actually called him "Eli." Hawk had just been "Lip" to everyone else, and _that's_ what he was trying to get away from. Not "Eli." Not Demetri.

Demetri's stubborn refusal to refer to him by his chosen name had officially melted Hawk's defenses. He wasn't expecting this change of heart today, and he definitely wasn't emotionally prepared for it to happen over the course of only a few moments. Hawk watches a tear fall and land on Demetri's cheek. 

Demetri flinches at the contact, and that breaks Hawk out of his thoughts.

Tory slaps him on the shoulder and laughs as she leads the celebrating group of Cobra Kais out the back door. They all give Hawk some form of congratulations as they leave, and someone spits on the ground by Demetri's head. Hawk wishes he could look up and see who it was (so he can kick the everliving shit out of them later), but he's not going to let them see him cry.

"You can get off of me now," Demetri groans, struggling to roll over when he's still being pinned to the floor.

Hawk scrambles to his feet, and he keeps moving backwards until his back is pressed to the wall. The horror of everything he's done for the past several months looms over him like an anvil waiting to drop, and all he can do is stare wide-eyed at Demetri through the blur of tears.

Demetri is still on the ground, but he's managed to roll onto his back. He clutches his arm, which is surely going to be sore from being strained behind his back for so long. Still, that's better than it being broken.

"Dammit," he practically whimpers, and Hawk is completely frozen. What does he even say? How does he come back from this?

That's when Sam reappears, timidly shuffling out of her hiding place. She looks rattled, and she's wiping what Hawk assumes to be tears off her face. Tory's threat of _"This isn't over, LaRusso,"_ rings in his ears.

"Help," Demetri whispers, and at Sam's initial second of hesitation, Hawk rushes over.

He doesn't look at Sam as he grabs the hand Demetri extends. Hawk pulls him to his feet, avoiding eye contact with Demetri as much as humanly possible. 

The three of them stand there in tense silence for a moment. Hawk is taken back to the years of his life when he would go days without speaking—when Demetri, who never shut the fuck up, was the only person he would talk to. Demetri used to joke that Hawk wouldn't need him anymore once he found his own voice, and it sickens him that he proved Demetri right.

But he was so _wrong_. Hawk needs him now more than ever, but he had gone and fucked everything up. Now, Demetri has Sam and Miyagi-Do, and soon enough he'll be able to hold his own in a fight. All those years of fantasizing about protecting Demetri from the bullies at school, and now _he's_ the bully that Demetri needs protection from.

Hawk inhales sharply, but he can't find anything to say. He just spins on his heel and heads for the door, shoulders hunched and hands in his pockets.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sam's voice trembles as she speaks.

Hawk just continues walking, keeping his eyes trained on the floor. He's reaching for the door handle when Demetri says, "Eli, you can't just walk away."

He stops in his tracks, the sound of Demetri saying his name—his _real_ name—reverberating in his chest. 

He turns around slowly, still hunched in on himself. Just like he had been the last time he let himself cry, when his mother unknowingly set him up for public humiliation. He hates this feeling, but he hates what he did to get him here even more.

"Are you _crying_?" Demetri asks accusingly, and Hawk squeezes his eyes shut. He wants to smash his head into the wall.

He hears Demetri telling Sam that she should go home, and she seems all too happy to get the hell out of there. Before Hawk can even think to open his eyes, hesitant footsteps come to a stop in front of him. He can only shake his head, a silent plea for Demetri to leave him alone.

"Hey, no. You don't get to do that. Not after all the shit you've put me through."

Hawk finally opens his eyes to find Demetri staring right back at him. Demetri is only a few inches taller, but Hawk can sense every single millimeter like a crushing weight on his shoulders. He feels absolutely miniscule.

"Do what?" He tries to put some bite into it, but it comes out the complete opposite of intimidating.

Demetri folds his arms, wincing at the disturbance of a muscle he probably pulled.

"You don't get to make me feel bad for you."

Hawk hardens his face into a glare. "I'm not trying to."

With a skeptical nod, Demetri sighs. "Can we please just talk about this? Because I don't know if you've noticed, but you kind of have a lot to apologize for."

"Of course I've fucking noticed," Hawk spits, stepping forward into Demetri's space. "What do you want me to say? ' _I'm sorry_ '? What the fuck is an 'I'm sorry' going to fix?"

"Nothing!" Demetri doesn't back down, keeping his eyes locked on Hawk's. "But it would be nice to hear, don't you think? After everything?"

Hawk is crumbling again. He can't stop the tears anymore, and they run hot down his face. "I thought you wouldn't want to talk to me."

" _Obviously_ I want to talk to you."

"Obviously—obvious to _who_?"

"To me, dipshit! I just want to know why you did it."

Though his vision is blurry, Hawk refuses to wipe the tears away. He's not ashamed of them. Not anymore.

"Why I did what?"

Demetri shrugs. "Everything. Why you turned on me like some 'Dark Water' shit? Why you randomly decided not to break my arm?"

"Your comparison to Doctor Who is a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened between—"

"Answer the questions."

A pause. Then, very quietly, "I was scared."

Demetri frowns. "Of what?"

Hawk swallows, hands twitching with the desperate urge to fidget. "I was scared of getting beaten up every day, so I learned to fight. I was scared for _you_ to get the shit kicked out of you if I wasn't there to protect you, so I tried to bully you into joining Cobra Kai. And then I was scared to let Kreese and everyone down, so it just turned into...straight-up bullying. And now, I'm scared that no matter what I say, it's never going to be enough. Because what I did is unforgivable. So I figured I should just stay out of your life instead of trying to apologize and make you think that _I_ thought an apology would make everything okay again."

Demetri is staring at him like he's surprised Hawk had it in him to say so many words. And honestly, that was probably the most he had ever heard Hawk speak, so it was a fair reaction.

After a moment's pause, Demetri asks, "'Do you think I care for you so little that betraying me would make a difference?'" and that's what finally gets Hawk to break down.

The tears fall faster, and in an attempt to hide the smile threatening to split his face, Hawk throws his arms around Demetri and buries his face in his shoulder.

To his surprise, Demetri hugs him back. "I knew quoting Doctor Who would work." Hawk can practically hear the shit-eating grin on Demetri's face.

"You're so fucking annoying," Hawk manages through what could either be laughter or hopeful sobbing. "And I'm so fucking sorry. For all of it. You have no idea."

"Eli, hey, it's okay. I mean, it's not okay, but I did some things that I'm sorry for too."

Now that Hawk has started, he can't stop: "No, shut up. Shut _up_. You were just getting me back for all the messed up shit I did. I don't care if you tell everyone about every single embarrassing thing you know about me. You can kick me into a million trophy cases and I will still never stop feeling bad for what I did to you. I treated you like shit and it's all because I was a fucking pussy."

"Eli, you need to—er, sorry, it's Hawk, I know—"

"'Eli,' please. You can call me 'Eli.'"

Demetri hugs him tighter at that. "Eli, you need to stop beating yourself up about this. Beating people up is what got you into this mess in the first place. I forgive you, alright? I forgive you. I'm probably going to bring it up sometimes to guilt trip you because I'm an asshole too, but I forgive you."

Hawk laughs despite himself. "I didn't want this to be about me."

"Who did you want it to be about? _Me_? Because I attract attention everywhere I go, man. It gets tiring."

He laughs again. It's been a long time since he's laughed at no one's expense. He also hasn't gotten a genuine hug in a very, very long time, and the fact that Demetri is the one sharing all of this with him, well...Hawk wouldn't have it any other way.

"Is the Doctor really a chick now?"

It's Demetri's turn to laugh. "Yeah, dude. She's badass."

"That's so fucking cool," Hawk mumbles into his best friend's shoulder, and he feels like he's come home.

"Hey, um," Demetri begins, but then he pulls away to look Hawk in the eyes. "Would you be able to walk me home? Sam was my ride, and I kinda told her to take a hike."

Hawk blinks the wetness from his eyes and gives Demetri a smug smile. "You need me to keep you safe out there on the streets?"

It's a little hard to tell in the dim blacklight of the laser tag arena, but Hawk would swear that he sees Demetri turn a shade pinker at the question. "You were the one saying you wanted to protect me; I'm just giving you the opportunity. That is, until I hone my own karate skills, of course."

Hawk rolls his eyes, dare he say, fondly. "Okay, man. Just stay close and you'll be fine."

Demetri definitely does stay very close as they head outside. The streets are lit by dim yellow lamps, and Hawk keeps a watchful eye out for any Cobra Kais that might not have gotten the message that the fight is over.

His apparent fear of getting beaten up again doesn't stop Demetri from rattling on about whatever he so chooses: "You know, I really think that forgiveness and payback are two totally different things. So like, yeah, of course I forgive you, but I really do think you still owe me. Like full compensation for the injuries you've caused, or maybe a couple of therapy sessions just to get me back on track. But all that stuff's kind of expensive, so you could just—"

"Two months," Hawk cuts in. "How about two months where I have to do whatever you tell me. It's Thursday and you have to wash the dishes? Consider it done. Your mom wants you to take the trash out? I'm just a call away. Whatever you want."

Demetri's eyes are wide. "I was gonna suggest you buy me dinner and leave it at that, but two months sounds fantastic."

Hawk quips about regretting this already, but he honestly doesn't think he ever will. Two months is getting off easy in his mind. 

"I think we'll start with that ridiculous haircut." Demetri reaches up to poke one of the stiff red spikes. "We're washing the color out, and don't worry, I'll help you cut it."

"Hey, hey, hey, there's no fucking way I'm letting you do anything to the mohawk." He swats Demetri's hand away.

"You came up with this idea! What I say, goes."

Hawk rolls his eyes. "This is different. It's about my _identity_. I'm not changing the hair. You get to call me 'Eli' now; I think that's a fair trade."

"But it's not _you_ , Eli. That thing on top of your head is literally the reason Mr. Lawrence started calling you 'Hawk.'"

"It's a distraction, you moron." Hawk folds his arms across his chest. "I need it. Now, when people stare at me, it's because—it's not because of—"

"Who cares if they stare at you? It's not like they can hurt you now."

" _I_ care!" Hawk shouts, disrupting the quiet of the night. "I can't just get rid of my biggest insecurity overnight. Plus, I like it. It makes me feel like a badass."

Demetri huffs. "You _are_ a badass. You don't need a mohawk to prove it."

Hawk deliberately does not think about the heat creeping up his neck at that. " _You_ don't need a collection of stupid socks to prove you're a nerd."

"I thought you liked the socks!"

"And I like the mohawk."

As if just now remembering his promise to stay close, Demetri reattaches himself to Hawk's side so they're walking shoulder-to-shoulder. "Fine. What do you want in exchange for losing the asshole personality?"

Hawk snorts. Honestly, all he wants is balance. There's no way he's ever going back to the quiet, pushover Eli that Demetri knew him as, but he can't continue down the path of becoming whatever Kreese wanted him to become. Maybe instead of flipping the script, all he has to do is turn the page.

"I think I'll give that one to you as a freebie. You deserve it."

Demetri nudges his shoulder. "Damn right I do. So what's it gonna take to get you to smile at me again?"

Hawk would freeze in place if his body wasn't automatically following the addicting warmth of Demetri's. "What do you mean?"

"Smiling, yeah. It's this thing you used to do where you'd quirk your lips up when I'd make a joke." He reaches over and pokes Hawk's mouth for emphasis, right on the scar. Because he's not afraid of it. Because he doesn't really notice it's there. 

_Because he doesn't_ care _that it's there_ , Hawk realizes. And that makes him smile. 

Demetri cheers. "There it is! I've been waiting for that smile for months."

Hawk smiles wider and looks away, just like he always used to. When they first met Miguel, he thought he was surely going to give himself away because of how obvious he was being with the uncontrollable smiles. It was terrifying, the thought that someone would see that he spent more time staring at Demetri than those girls at the other table. 

But after seeing Moon and Piper at that party, just openly making out and not giving a fuck about who saw, Hawk began to realize that maybe his crippling fear of outing himself didn't have to be so crippling. This was confirmed when years of trying to shove his feelings down were completely destroyed simply because Demetri sat next to him. The combination of _'Maybe I don't have to only like girls'_ and the shock of Demetri materializing beside him were enough to get his guard down in that moment.

"Whatever," Hawk mutters, but now he can't stop smiling. 

He can feel Demetri's eyes on him, surely accompanied by a smirk. "I guess I'll just have to keep giving you reasons to smile."

Hawk laughs (another thing he can't stop doing). "You're gonna run out eventually; it's a short list."

They're quiet for a moment, and then Demetri hesitantly says, "You remember that I do the dishes on Thursdays?"

Hawk scoffs. "Of course I remember. We were best friends for sixteen years. I helped you do the dishes at least a hundred times."

Demetri shrugs. "I just thought, y'know, maybe now you help someone else do the dishes."

"Nah, the Cobra Kai guys aren't really friends like that. Not like we were."

"We _are_ ," Demetri corrects, and Hawk's stomach does a back flip. "But it's good to know that you will only be helping _me_ with chores. I can't have you distracted if you're going to be over here every day." They come to a stop in front of Demetri's house.

Hawk raises his eyebrows. "Every day?"

"Yeah, _duh_. You know, for such a smart guy, you're very dumb. Obviously I'm gonna use this two month thing to force you to hang out with me all the time. I'll be damned if I don't catch you up on Doctor Who."

"I just didn't think you'd want to go back to how it used to be so quickly."

Demetri rolls his eyes. "I don't know how many times I have to explain this: I forgive you. And I missed you, okay? Plus"—he pokes Hawk's chest with his finger, punctuating each word with a jab—"you. Owe. Me. Eli. Got it?"

Hawk can only nod.

"Fantastic. Now, I want you here bright and early tomorrow. How does noon sound?"

With another nod, Hawk gratefully agrees. He genuinely can't believe he's being given another chance.

Demetri gives him the loveliest, most annoying grin Hawk has ever seen. "See you tomorrow, Binary Bro." He lightly punches Hawk's shoulder. "Bring your homework for Monday too. We can get a head start."

And with that, he takes off up the driveway, into the garage, and then he's gone.

Hawk nearly collapses onto the sidewalk. Demetri is giving him another chance. After fucking up _that badly_ , he's being offered the chance to redeem himself. 

"Fuck yes!" He gives the air a few celebratory punches before sprinting down the street towards his own home, grinning like an idiot the whole way. 

≖≖≖≖≖≖

The past four weeks have been the most fun Demetri has probably ever had. 

Eli isn't back to how he was before. He makes snarky comments and rolls his eyes and wrestles Demetri onto the ground, but Demetri is surprised to find that he likes it. He likes this side of Eli just ask much as he likes the timid, nerdy, fidgety one that comes around sometimes too. The discovery that he can be both at the same time hit Demetri like a freight train.

Eli has dyed his hair purple. He keeps it in its typical mohawk at school and in public and pretty much everywhere except for Demetri's house, which is as good of a compromise as he is going to get.

The only problem is that Demetri cannot stop touching Eli's hair.

After school—or karate, on the days they have class (which is most of them)—they walk to Demetri's house and graciously accept snacks from his mom. Then, Eli showers in Demetri's bathroom and gets all that nasty product out of his hair until it's just a fluffy mess of purple that is _way_ too fun to play with.

They usually do homework in Demetri's room with a Harry Potter movie playing for background noise, and once they're done, it's Doctor Who time. Aside from making Eli grab more snacks from the kitchen or having him get up to turn off the lights, Demetri doesn't really ask much of him. Eli always helps with his chores, but they do it together. They do everything together now.

Speaking of, ever since Eli left Cobra Kai for Eagle Fang, Demetri has been talking to Sam about a possible team-up. He's not necessarily on great terms with _all_ of the Eagle Fang students, but Sam has been adamant about this idea for a couple of weeks now. Eli is completely on board, of course, and even though Miguel took some convincing, he eventually gave in. With the top dogs of both dojos in agreement, everyone else is sure to follow. 

All that's left to do is convince their Senseis, but that is a problem for a different time.

That's what Eli is complaining about now as Demetri fast-forwards through the parts of Half-Blood Prince that don't involve Draco (he's always been more interested in the misunderstood villain types).

"It's just been such a nightmare trying to get Sensei Lawrence to realize he's being a total pussy! That's the only reason he doesn't want to team up with you guys. It sucks that he's so scared of LaRusso."

"Uh-huh." Demetri has been trying to stay indifferent to Eli's persistent use of the word "pussy" as a derogatory term. He gets defensive when Demetri calls him out, but he's definitely not going to encourage that, so all he can really do is ignore it.

Eli spins around on Demetri's desk chair. "I just wish Miguel and Sam would go all Romeo and Juliet and threaten to poison each other or something."

"I don't think that's what happened."

"Whatever. I didn't do most of my homework last year, so I missed the whole Shakespeare unit."

Demetri can't help but laugh at that. It's still so surprising to hear that Eli Moskowitz has anything less than stellar grades. Demetri was there when he learned to read, for Christ's sake; he thought nothing about Eli could surprise him anymore. He was so very wrong.

But once again, he kind of likes it. 

"Okay, Tough Guy, get up here," Demetri requests, and Eli obediently plops down on the bed to face the television. "We're gonna finish sixth year, and then we can switch to Doctor Who."

Eli groans. "Are you seriously going to make me watch the bathroom scene again? I'm so tired of Harry Potter."

"You used to love Harry Potter. You had Hufflepuff merch and everything! Just because you went all Slytherin for a little while doesn't mean you have to suddenly hate everything."

"Hey, I wasn't _evil_."

"I said you were a Slytherin, not evil."

"Same thing."

Demetri gasps. "Eli! How many times do we have to have this conversation?"

"Look at Draco! He's fucking crazy!"

"He wasn't _crazy_ ; he was just misguided."

"No one can be 'misguided' into trying to kill someone and come back redeemed. That's why they cut the scene where he throws Harry's wand to him."

"Sure they can! And that scene was cut because they're cowards."

"Look, your crush on Draco does not warrant another watch of this average movie."

They both fall silent, seeming to comprehend what Eli said at the same time. Eli's mouth opens and closes as he searches for something to say, hands automatically moving to fidget with each other.

Demetri clears his throat. "So what if I have a crush on Draco?"

And holy Jesus Christ. He cannot believe he just said that.

"What?" Eli squeaks— _squeaks_!

"Would there be a problem? If I did?" Demetri hopes he doesn't look as terrified as he feels, but Eli has recently become very well-acquainted with his I'm-trying-to-hide-how-scared-I-am face.

Eli's eyes are wide. "No. Definitely not. I didn't say there was."

Demetri swallows and looks at the TV. "Cool."

"Yeah. Cool."

He knows Eli is still staring at him because he can hear the clicking noise of Eli's nails as he fidgets, and he only does that intense, nail-attacking type of fidgeting when he's staring at Demetri. The sound used to be irritating, but now he wouldn't trade it for the world.

"Why do you do that?" he asks. He's never bothered to before since he thought it was because of bully-induced anxiety, but apparently he was wrong.

The noise stops. "Sorry. I know it's annoying."

On the TV, Draco looks into the mirror and lets out a sob.

"No, it's fine. I was just wondering." 

Demetri glances at his friend, and Eli is running a hand through his hair over and over and over again with a speed Demetri didn't realize was achievable with hands alone. _It's the anxiety_ , he thinks. _Why is he so anxious?_

Demetri reaches up and grabs Eli's wrist mid-movement. "Hey, it's me. It's just me."

Eli gives him that look—the same wide eyes and parted lips as when Demetri stole his mom's concealer to see if that would help Eli feel better about his scar; the same frustrated inability to express what he wants to say as the stumbling apology at Golf 'N Stuff—and Demetri smiles brightly.

"Eli, it's okay. You can talk to me."

That at least gets him a laugh. "I forgot about this part."

"What part?"

Eli shrugs. "The part where you're not annoying. I forgot that you can do that sometimes."

Demetri grabs a pillow and smacks him in the shoulder. "Shut up; obviously I'm not going to be annoying when you're having a breakdown."

"So it's a conscious choice you make to be annoying every day?"

"Hey, this consciously annoying mouth has gotten you out of a lot of scrapes, buddy. I've taken beatings for you."

Eli rolls his eyes. "Definitely not close to the amount of times _I've_ gotten beat up because _you_ can't keep your opinions to yourself."

"Yeah, whatever. You can kick the shit out of anybody now, so you don't have to worry about that ever again."

He yelps as Eli lunges for him, tackling Demetri with such force that they roll onto the floor with a thud. Eli ends up taking the brunt of it—which somehow always ends up being the case when they fight like this—landing on his back and grinning up at Demetri.

"You can fight too; don't forget that."

Demetri crosses his arms and raises his eyebrows at Eli, whom he is currently sitting on. "You say that to me every time, but you know I can't _actually_ win against you."

"You did once."

"Because you weren't expecting it. You'd never let that happen again."

"Then it's a good thing my goal is to protect you now." Eli reaches up and pats Demetri's cheek condescendingly. "Poor little Demetri."

With a fond smile, Demetri ruffles Eli's hair. "I don't know how much I like this newfound confidence. It's really hurting my self-esteem."

Eli scoffs and unsuccessfully tries to shake Demetri's hand from his hair. "You love it."

"Well, now that I know you're only joking, I guess I do."

That earns him a wide, unapologetically happy smile that, until a month ago, he thought he would never see from Eli again.

He watches Eli close his eyes and tilt his head up into Demetri's hand, the first sign that he's shedding his tough exterior and letting Demetri back in. As he continues to play with Eli's (very fluffy and very purple) hair, he realizes that this is all he ever wanted. Not the "Death of Hawk," as he previously proclaimed; he just wanted Eli to see that he could be confident and snarky without treating his best friend like shit.

"I like you like this," he confesses, deciding to stop hiding behind jokes or heated argument for the sake of it. "And I'm sorry that I tried to force you back into how things were before. That's not something a good friend would do."

Eli opens his eyes again. "Don't apologize. I'm bad at both sides of apologies."

Demetri frowns. "I'm trying to do something here."

"I know, I just..." He sighs frustratedly. "I just feel so guilty all the time. It's weird for you to apologize to me when I don't think you could ever do anything to me that I don't deserve. You forgave me so easily, and I'll never understand why or how."

"I told you why. We've been friends our entire lives." Demetri gives Eli's hair a gentle, playful tug. "If you think that I'd give up on you that easily, I must have been a really shitty best friend."

Eli's eyebrows pinch together. "Shut up. You don't get to say that to me. You were _everything_. You were all I had. I'm the one that pushed you away."

"The reason you pushed me away was because I protested at the first sign that you were changing! I got mad that you were figuring out who you were because I thought you were going to leave me behind."

"Can we please not talk about this again?" Eli begs, squeezing his eyes shut again.

Demetri groans. "You can't keep avoiding this. What happened to taking your problems and beating the shit out of them?"

"Look where that got me!"

"It got you _here_. With me. Dipshit."

Eli covers his face with his hands. "Demetri, seriously. Please. I don't want to fucking cry in front of you again."

"Too bad. You're gonna cry right now. Because I will shower you with love until you're convinced, and if your reaction to that is tears, we'll just have to deal with it."

That turns Eli into a spluttering mess. "You—Why would you say—I'm not going to—But—" He peeks through his fingers. "You _love_ me?"

Demetri rolls his eyes. "Yes! You're my best friend! Of course I love you. It's not like that's the first time I've said it."

"But even after...Still?" The fear in Eli's voice breaks Demetri's heart. "We're still best friends?"

With a patient sigh, Demetri nods. "Yes. Obviously."

"You should really stop saying 'obviously' in reference to things that were not obvious."

"It was obvious to me!" 

"I can't read all your little social cues. I didn't know."

"On the first day we started talking again, I literally said that we're friends."

"Did you say ' _best_ friends'?"

Demetri wants to scream. He cannot believe that Eli, mathematical genius that he may be, isn't getting this. Demetri climbs off of him and paces at the foot of the bed.

"What is it going to take for you to understand that I forgive you? Completely and wholeheartedly? Because I don't know what else I'm supposed to say."

Eli scrambles to his feet. "Give me one good reason. I can understand, maybe with a lot of time and therapy, how you could eventually reach forgiveness, but you let me off immediately. I was about to break your arm, man. You knew that I was going to do it."

Demetri knows why. He's known for a very long time—has probably always known—but he didn't think Eli would be able to see through him this easily. Yeah, it's in Demetri's nature to let people push him around, but this is something completely different. He genuinely forgives Eli because he can see that Eli deeply regrets what happened over the last year. Demetri wouldn't be in love with him if he didn't.

But instead of saying all of that, he goes with, "I'm going to kill you." And then he grabs Eli's hand and yanks him out into the hall, practically dragging him downstairs.

"Demetri, I didn't—"

" _Mom_!" he shouts, ignoring Eli, and there's no answer. They're alone in the kitchen.

He lets go of Eli's hand and turns to face him. "Hit me."

Eli blanches. "What? No."

"Hit. Me."

"No! What are you—"

"See?" Demetri interrupts. "That's why I forgive you. Because I _know_ you. Inside and out, I know you, and you're still my Eli. Always have been, always will be. So I'm going to get you to stop being such an insecure little worm and understand that we're okay now. You don't have to be terrified of losing us all the time."

Eli just looks at him for a moment. The gears seem to be turning, finally, and Demetri prays to Mr. Miyagi that things can finally be okay and they can just leave all this behind them.

"Losing us...," Eli repeats, barely audible. "Demetri, I don't know what you...Back before Hawk and Cobra Kai and everything, you were always way braver than me."

Demetri nods, hoping that he'll be able to catch up to this thread of conversation soon.

"So if I'm still 'your Eli'"—he tilts his head—"you're going to have to spell it out for me. Because I don't know exactly what you're saying."

Eli's brow furrows, and it looks like he's trying very hard to communicate something with only his eyes. He's always been bad at reading social cues, so Demetri doesn't know why he thinks he can try to give one now. He just stares down at Eli, hoping that somehow he will acquire telepathic powers. Maybe squinting will help. He tries it. 

"I'm confused."

Eli snarls and curls his hands into fists. "Forget it." He stomps over to the fridge and flings the door open. "What am I bringing upstairs for you this time, _Your Majesty_?"

Okay, so. Clearly Demetri is going to have to resort to drastic measures. He tries his best to channel his Inner Sam, fighting to let go of his irritation.

After a short breathing exercise, Demetri comes up behind him, wraps his arms around Eli's waist, and lifts him off the ground.

"Hey! Dude, put me down!" He kicks the air and sinks his nails into Demetri's arms.

"Oh, shut up. You could get free if you wanted to."

He sets Eli down in the living room and moves to face him. "I am going to pin you to the wall."

"Why are you—"

Demetri pushes his back against the wall, holding Eli in place by his shoulders.

"Explain to me why you just let me do that. You and I both know that you could have easily stopped me at any point, so why didn't you?"

Eli shakes his head. "I don't know."

"You _do_ know. You're a smart guy. So tell me."

"I don't want to hurt you again."

With a nod, Demetri says, "What you need to get through that dense skull of yours is the fact that _that's_ the only thing I care about. You regret the past year? Yeah, so do I. We've both messed a lot of things up. All I want is for us to be okay again."

Eli closes his eyes. "Shut up, just _shut up_. Do you ever fucking shut—"

He's cut off by the press of Demetri's mouth to his.

It's funny how Demetri's greatest weapon has always been his ability to think his way out of things, and now he's completely forgoing any thought at all. His mouth is usually what gets him into trouble, so he has no idea why he's trying to use it to get out of this mess.

Before he knows it, Demetri is being shoved onto the carpet. His brain barely has time to register the mild pain in his back, and then Eli is climbing on top of him.

"Please don't throttle me," Demetri squeaks. "I promise I'll never do that again."

" _Shut up,_ " Eli growls through his teeth, and then he's kissing Demetri with just as much force as he packs behind a punch.

This is _so_ much better than being punched.

Demetri has fantasized about this since the day he figured out what kissing was. His imagination has gotten much less innocent over the years, but he never could have guessed anything close to this would be happening. When there isn't any malicious intent behind it, Eli's aggression is extremely welcome and _extremely_ hot.

Demetri can't stop himself from letting out a quiet hum of satisfaction, and he feels Eli smirk against his lips. 

"Got something to share with the class?"

"Always," Demetri whispers. He tilts his head up, desperately reaching for Eli's mouth, but Eli pulls away at the last moment.

He's barely a centimeter away—he can feel the warmth of Eli's lips—but Eli is deliberately goading him on. He really shouldn't have expected anything less.

"You'll have to speak up if you're going to get what you want," Eli teases.

Demetri drops his head back down on the floor and curses, unable to look Eli in the eyes. "I want you to kiss me again."

He can hear the smirk in Eli's voice as he says, "If you insist," and then leans down to shove his tongue back into Demetri's mouth.

Since he has never kissed anyone in his life before, Demetri is happy to let Eli do all the work. It gives him the brain power for other things, like thinking about how fluffy Eli's hair is and running his hands through it. This elicits the most delightful little moan, and Demetri takes that as his cue to flip them over so he's on top.

He pulls away for just long enough to ask, "Why are you letting me do this?"

Eli pecks the corner of his mouth, which is much softer than whatever Demetri had expected him to do. "Because I love you too, moron."

Demetri grins. "I'm happy you understand now."

"Yeah, whatever," Eli says as he fails to hide a smile.

With a hum, Demetri moves his hand up to cup Eli's face. He gently traces that lovely scar with his thumb, but then he feels Eli shrink away.

"Hey, it's okay," Demetri reassures him. "For the record, I've wanted to kiss that mouth for a really long time. I didn't need to be distracted by some crazy hairstyle or a tattoo or your 'rippling muscles of badassery,' as you've said so eloquently. I just wanted to kiss _you_."

Eli gives him that timid smile that Demetri craves so much. "Then what are you waiting for?"

And as Demetri fulfills his promise, he realizes that this was the balance they've both been searching for this whole time. Eli needed to let go of all that insecurity, and Demetri needed to step up and face the only thing he had left to fear. All that "inner peace" stuff feels great when you actually find it yourself.

"Is green still your favorite color?" Eli mutters half an hour later, breathless but showing no sign of stopping.

Demetri has to pull away completely in order for Eli to let him get a word in. "Always has been, always will be."

"I'm getting my hair dyed again. Just decided now." Eli pulls him down into a long, brain-melting kiss, and Demetri feels like everything's okay.

Maybe not next week, or maybe not tomorrow, but for right now, everything is okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I would like to end this by saying that someone on Tumblr (I literally can't find the post so I don't remember who) said they loved that Hawk had to choose to redeem himself without anyone else's help because at that point, the biggest battle he was fighting was with himself—not Kreese, not Kyler, not Demetri, not anyone. I completely agree and I think the arm-breaking was a sure thing from the moment Hawk got him pinned down.
> 
> BUT it's fun to re-imagine things. So I did.
> 
> Tumblr: soe-leo. Open to requests!
> 
> Drop a comment and a kudos if you enjoyed. Thank you for reading! <3


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